Pie Face is one of the few, if not the only, socially acceptable ways to hit people in the face with whipped cream. As you can imagine, that makes it quite popular with kids. The rules are simple: place your chin on the provided chin rest and turn the crank. Did you get hit in the face? No? Good for you; you get a point. Yes? Good for you; you get to eat some whipped cream. We recommend Pie Face for lactose-friendly families with young children.

DR. EUREKAPrice: $19.99 $15.00 Players: 1-4 Ages: 8+ Time: 15 minutes

Dr. Eureka is one of 2016’s surprise hits. In this game, Dr. Eureka—who, incidentally, possesses quintessential mad scientist hair—presents “scientific formulas” to players, who must recreate them by quickly and carefully tipping test tubes filled with colorful balls into other tubes. We recommend Dr. Eureka for families with younger children, especially since it’s engaging enough not to bore parents or older siblings.

Did you know? Dr. Eureka is published by Blue Orange, the same game publisher who originally produced Spot It! (now owned by Asmodee).

SUSHI GO!Price: $12.99 $9.75 Players: 2-5 Ages: 8+ Time: 15 minutes

No game collection is complete without Sushi Go!. Featuring adorable sushi art and smooth, easy-to-learn gameplay, Sushi Go! is great as a light filler game for experienced players or as an introduction to gaming for those new to tabletop games. It’s small enough to stuff a stocking but packs in all the fun of a big box game, and at less than $10, you might want to pick up a copy for yourself as well.

Since its release in 1995, The Settlers of Catan (now just Catan) has sold over 22 million copies, and has been translated into roughly 30 languages. Though Catan is a household name, many players still haven’t tried this modern classic strategy game. If you know a family just getting into gaming, Catan makes an for an excellent introduction to a variety of game mechanisms including hand management, negotiation, and resource management. If you know a gamer who already has Catan, we’d be happy to help you select one of its many expansions.

Codenames Pictures is the spiritual successor of Codenames, the 2016 Spiel des Jahres winner and easily one of the best party games ever made. Players are divided into two rival teams. One player from each team is the spymaster, who gives one-word clues to their team of operatives to help identify at which locations—represented by a random field of picture cards—the operatives can find their team’s fellow spies. Spy masters and field operatives must think carefully. They want to avoid encountering their rival team’s agent—or worse, the assassin. We’re comfortable recommending Codenames to just about anyone.

Did you know? The coveted Spiel des Jahres is bestowed on just one board game a year. It’s kind of like the Oscars of board games.

The Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures Game is a two-player tactical game in which players fly a team of iconic Star Wars ships against one another in a duel to the death. The game recreates epic Star Wars space battles on your table with highly detailed and painted miniature ships such as the Millennium Falcon and Slave I. The Punishing One is the personal Jumpmaster 5000 of the bounty hunter Dengar of The Empire Strikes Back fame. The Ghost is the VCX -100 flown by the rebel group seen in the Star Wars Rebels television show. Both ships are expansions; you’ll need the core X-Wing Miniatures Game to utilize either. We recommend X-Wing for players looking for an immersive, challenging, and rewarding experience.

Did you know? Several X-Wing players from our Redmond Town Center location recently participated in the X-Wing World Championship!

Tail Feathers is an epic skirmish of roguish rats, allied with hunting birds, and noble mice, supported by blue jays and starlings. Players engage in a game of wits and military maneuvering with the goal of capturing the nest(s) of their opponent(s). Though its theme is whimsical, Tail Feathers has all the trappings of a war game, complete with miniatures and movement guides. We recommend Tail Feathers as a novel way to experience mechanics normally associated with a science fiction theme.

Did you know? Tail Feathers is a standalone game set in the world of Mice and Mystics, a roleplaying game by the same publisher. The miniatures in Tail Feathers can be used to enhance the roleplaying experience.

As a rock-solid Eurogame with an impressive rating of 8.0 on BoardGameGeek, The Voyages of Marco Polo deserves more good press than it gets. It’s an immersive and strategic game following the epic four-year adventure of Marco Polo along the “Silk Road,” from Jerusalm to Mesopotamia and onward to China and the court of Kublai Khan. Each player is a unique character with special abilities, trying to earn the most victory points by the end of five rounds. We recommend The Voyages of Marco Polo to experienced players who enjoyed games such as Lords of Waterdeep and Puerto Rico, and are looking for something new.

Did you know? The highest rated game on BoardGameGeek, Pandemic Legacy: Season One, has a rating of 8.441.